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Speaker 2: Our number two of the drive here live on campus
Speaker 2: of course, at Saint Vincent College, all part of our
Speaker 2: ongoing training camp coverage out here in beautiful Lake Trobe.
Speaker 2: Another beautiful day today. Steelers got out there early, a
Speaker 2: lighter practice to more to go, Matt. I would imagine
Speaker 2: they'll be a little more ramped up than they were today, probably,
Speaker 2: but you also never know. It's a it's a new year,
Speaker 2: it's a new system. Looks like there's some potentially some
Speaker 2: home run derby or some stuff going on over there,
Speaker 2: right now, I don't know if that's the Saint Vincent
Speaker 2: team or if that's some of that.
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's the Steelers or not. I
Speaker 3: bet it's not.
Speaker 2: I don't think it is, actually, because right now, Matt
Speaker 2: actually down to our right at the Fred Rodgers Center
Speaker 2: at the bottom of the hill, Keanu Benten is doing
Speaker 2: his extension press conference as we speed right now, Keanu
Speaker 2: Bettan's at the podium down there. Maybe we can get
Speaker 2: you some of that audio in the next two hours,
Speaker 2: better before week before we.
Speaker 3: Imagine being a yeah, signing that extension. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: so there's life changing stuff. I mean, it happens all
Speaker 3: the time in sports, but just forget these are young men.
Speaker 3: Was he twenty six or something like that, and it gets
Speaker 3: to sign an eighteen million dollars deal and congratulations.
Speaker 2: It's pretty cool. And obviously I don't know if you
Speaker 2: saw this stuff, Matt, but I don't think anyone's more
Speaker 2: fired up than Nick Herbig, who also signed his extension
Speaker 2: earlier this summer. Those two are best.
Speaker 3: It's cost best.
Speaker 2: They go back to college time together. And Benton was
Speaker 2: at Herbig's press conference after he signed his deal. Herbig
Speaker 2: is down there right now, sitting in for Benton's those
Speaker 2: two best friends, Badgers and Badgers. And yet, hey, if
Speaker 2: they both end up playing out every year of their extension, Matt,
Speaker 2: that'd be you know, over a decade that they ended
Speaker 2: up playing from college to the pros with your best friend.
Speaker 2: That's pretty cool.
Speaker 3: That's really cool. I hadn't thought of.
Speaker 2: That, Matt. Thursday night, the Steelers first preseason game and
Speaker 2: twenty eight to nine victory over the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 2: plenty to like. There are some things that need cleaned up,
Speaker 2: as always, but I think we certainly left there all
Speaker 2: of us with positive vibes and thoughts in those things
Speaker 2: from the first preseason game, most notably, Matt, because one,
Speaker 2: you got through it without any major injuries, which is
Speaker 2: always maybe the first boxing you want to check. And
Speaker 2: number two because we finally got our first look at
Speaker 2: the two young quarterbacks and they did not disappoint.
Speaker 3: They sure didn't. And I think we can lump. I
Speaker 3: guess we had got to start with the quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: Right, I think so. I was trying to when we
Speaker 2: were in break. I was like, oh, literally want to start.
Speaker 2: Everyone's talking about the quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: My producer Bran kicks in. I'm like, let's do something different.
Speaker 2: And then I'm like, no, you idiot, Like that's the story.
Speaker 2: Talk about it.
Speaker 3: Lead the special penalties, you know, right.
Speaker 2: I had this, you'll like this. I had this, U,
Speaker 2: I had this. Alex he was the GM of the
Speaker 2: college radio station when I was in Morgantown, and he
Speaker 2: was probably in his forties and had worked in radio
Speaker 2: forever and was a good dude. Yeah, And I remember
Speaker 2: one time he said to us, he was like, never
Speaker 2: try and bury the story. He's like, when you turn
Speaker 2: on the news at night, they're not like, all five
Speaker 2: people got shot downtown. We'll talk about that in twenty minutes,
Speaker 2: you know, like they lead with it. The biggest story
Speaker 2: of the day is what you lead with. And the
Speaker 2: biggest story from Thursday night is the play of the
Speaker 2: two young quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: And I want to lump Mason Rudolph in there too,
Speaker 3: because first off, this to sound like I'm being negative
Speaker 3: towards these three quarterbacks. By no means am. I I
Speaker 3: was very, very impressed with the three of them. All
Speaker 3: are in particular, I thought really out kicked my expectations,
Speaker 3: you know, considering he's the youngest of the group. I
Speaker 3: think he's the most rat of the group, and maybe
Speaker 3: he was the most consistent of the group, but collectively,
Speaker 3: all three of them did really, really well. Now what
Speaker 3: I'm going with with this is, first off, I want
Speaker 3: to recognize I thought the Packers' defense that they put
Speaker 3: out there was pretty darn poor, especially as the game
Speaker 3: went on. Their depth issues are problematic. There were some
Speaker 3: blown coverages, but you gotta take advantage of that stuff.
Speaker 3: But where I'm going with this, to me, the lead,
Speaker 3: and it's easy just to look at quarterbacks and draft
Speaker 3: doll players. To me, the lead is the work McCarthy's
Speaker 3: done with that position. I mean, the efficiency, the crispness.
Speaker 3: You can see how well they've been instructed behind the
Speaker 3: scenes and on this field, and even his play calling
Speaker 3: has a different flavor to it, and throwing over the middle.
Speaker 3: And I've used the word efficient for the quarterback play
Speaker 3: and the passing game overall nine thousand times since the
Speaker 3: game endedish and of fish and efficient, crisp. Everyone's very
Speaker 3: confident in their read on time. When plays break down,
Speaker 3: they don't become disasters, you know. I mean, it's just
Speaker 3: the fact that was if one of them looked great,
Speaker 3: and the other two were. I don't want any of
Speaker 3: that kind of all over the place. I don't think
Speaker 3: I'd be calling out McCarthy and praising him first and foremost.
Speaker 3: The fact that all of them were not carbon copies
Speaker 3: of each other, but played to their strengths really operated
Speaker 3: the offense, I think, really screams that this coaching staff
Speaker 3: has changed things and is making an impact.
Speaker 2: That's a very that's a very good observation from you.
Speaker 2: I'm with you on that one, because you're right. If
Speaker 2: it was just Mason Rudolph, or if it was just
Speaker 2: Drew Aller, then you you could make five unbelievable right,
Speaker 2: But it is easy to forget because all the attention
Speaker 2: was on the two young guys. And I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: call will Will Howard a rookie, but it is almost
Speaker 2: like the two rookie time. But Mason Rudolph ten for eleven,
Speaker 2: nice and efficient h A twenty five all three quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: Matt had an explosive completion too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they drove the ball down the field, they went
Speaker 3: fourth and fourth down, They threw in the middle of
Speaker 3: the field. They shut the guys up for run after
Speaker 3: the catch.
Speaker 2: You know. Four explosive plays in the past game, plus
Speaker 2: a nineteen yard of de Ben's chronic So that's that's
Speaker 2: about a yard away from being a fifth explosive in
Speaker 2: the past game, because of course that's a twenty or
Speaker 2: plus yard reception. For those of you who are new
Speaker 2: and have not heard, Matt and I lament explosives to
Speaker 2: death here over the offseason. Also, though no explosives for
Speaker 2: Green Bay on offense, the Steelers defense did not give
Speaker 2: up an explosive in the run game ten or more yards,
Speaker 2: did not give up an explosive in the past game,
Speaker 2: or for twenty of our more yards or a touchdown
Speaker 2: for that matter. But talk to me about those those
Speaker 2: two young quarterbacks. We'll go. Let's go in chronological order here.
Speaker 2: The thing that I really liked about Will Howard is
Speaker 2: Matt I was kind of waiting to see just what
Speaker 2: his nerves, what his body language looked like, because.
Speaker 3: I think this was like a rookie moment.
Speaker 2: I think it would have been understandable for him. He's
Speaker 2: been sitting and waiting for a year and a half. Remember,
Speaker 2: he hasn't played a football game since Ohio State beat
Speaker 2: Notre Dame for the national championship in January of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's a lot long.
Speaker 2: That's a long time ago. And since then the Steelers
Speaker 2: went out and drafted a third round quarterback behind him.
Speaker 2: I think it would have been very understandable if he
Speaker 2: was like so, he sails a couple of throws, he
Speaker 2: makes a mental, is just so jacked up, so excited,
Speaker 2: so ready to go that he almost overplays it.
Speaker 3: And you were there, I'm sure the crowd really reacted
Speaker 3: when the second and they did for both young guys.
Speaker 2: You know, the second he runs out there, they now
Speaker 2: entering the game, number eighteen out in the place goes
Speaker 2: nuts and it's like, okay, here we go. Let's see
Speaker 2: how this is gonna look. And it's a two minute
Speaker 2: drill opportunity for him in there at the end of
Speaker 2: the second quarter too.
Speaker 3: I think that was his highlight if it was running
Speaker 3: the two minutes.
Speaker 2: If he would have came out and had some jitters,
Speaker 2: had some nerves, maybe fire to pass too long, maybe
Speaker 2: a short route he guns it in there too heavy. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I would have understood it. He's been championed at the
Speaker 2: for a year and a half to get back out
Speaker 2: on the field, but I thought he looked cool, calm
Speaker 2: and collected. I was very impressed by that.
Speaker 3: I thought so too, And again I thought that was
Speaker 3: on most display during the two minute drill. I thought
Speaker 3: he handled that very very well, had a real strong understanding.
Speaker 3: Now that's something they practice out here a lot. I mean,
Speaker 3: this staff is very into the two minute drill before.
Speaker 3: I forget the defense didn't hold up so well in
Speaker 3: the two minute drill after Howard's two minute drill, So
Speaker 3: half of the two minute stuff went well, half didn't.
Speaker 3: Another thing that really stood out to me with Howard
Speaker 3: that has to be part of his game because he's
Speaker 3: not as gifted of a thrower. Of the four of them,
Speaker 3: he's the least gifted thrower and by no means as
Speaker 3: he rogers, and he's not really close to Aller in
Speaker 3: terms of arm talent. But when he has to move
Speaker 3: his feet and reset, he did that really well without
Speaker 3: having to totally you know, start from scratch. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: like Brady's the best example ever of just little subtle
Speaker 3: moves and not having to you know, reset my entire
Speaker 3: mechanics and being able to throw on platform despite being
Speaker 3: moved off my spot. You know, I thought that that's
Speaker 3: something that's going to have to happen for him, because
Speaker 3: if you're Mahomes or Rogers or whatever, and I get
Speaker 3: moved off my spot and I'm not in a comfortable position,
Speaker 3: I may throw this crazy sight arm laser that only
Speaker 3: superheroes can do, you know. So that was something that
Speaker 3: stood out to me. Accuracy in general composure great, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was very impressed. Yeah, seven of nine eighty six
Speaker 2: yards almost had the touchdown pass but was was ruled
Speaker 2: down upon further review and then hammered home by Lou Nichols.
Speaker 2: But I liked that.
Speaker 3: And that was another one. I mean, some of it
Speaker 3: was the play never should have lasted as long as
Speaker 3: it did. But it felt like that play went off
Speaker 3: for like ten seconds, like he was like doing his
Speaker 3: bend impersonation. He shrugged off a guy and you're right.
Speaker 2: Yep, absolutely right, and then found the open man right,
Speaker 2: and he had kind of slipped him between the coverage
Speaker 2: of the defense. And then more on Bernard later by
Speaker 2: the way, Oh, we're gonna have more on the receivers
Speaker 2: and some of these running backs too. But Drew Aller
Speaker 2: then comes in and obviously, once again the anticipation rises,
Speaker 2: the place is ready to go, and I think not
Speaker 2: quite to the extent of Howard, But I also would
Speaker 2: have understood if there would be some nerves, some miscues,
Speaker 2: some misfires, and Matt he goes.
Speaker 3: Ten long times. Does he played the game too, because.
Speaker 2: That's a really good point, ten of thirteen, one hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty three yards. Of course, the two touchdown passes
Speaker 2: and the touchdown run. It is as you mentioned, it
Speaker 2: is not like the Green Bay Packers defense was bathing
Speaker 2: themselves in glory.
Speaker 3: No they weren't.
Speaker 2: And you always have the footnote of you know, he's
Speaker 2: playing against third and four stringers, of course, But every
Speaker 2: time I start to think that, I remember our, our,
Speaker 2: our good friend Ton Jolkin, who used to always say, hey,
Speaker 2: that's the first step. If you can't beat the stiffs,
Speaker 2: you are a stiff yep, you gotta start somewhere.
Speaker 3: Yeah, look like you belong and you start beating up
Speaker 3: on the guys that are borderline players.
Speaker 2: And Drew Aller looked like he belonged and was beaten
Speaker 2: up on some borderline players.
Speaker 3: To a degree I never would have expected to be honest,
Speaker 3: I thought he was tremendous again, I thought he went
Speaker 3: through his reads extremely well. Yes, he got a lot
Speaker 3: of yardage to Wigian on a quick hitter, but if
Speaker 3: you watch that play, and I do want to watch
Speaker 3: it again, I was talking to Chris Hallick about this.
Speaker 3: It looked like the ball was snapped or even pre snap.
Speaker 3: He's dropping back and I think he wanted to go
Speaker 3: to a tight end first and even and he got
Speaker 3: off at number one immediately knowing the slant was there
Speaker 3: because there was a linebacker that was in his path,
Speaker 3: so before he even got to the top of his drop.
Speaker 3: And I need to think about the play again. I
Speaker 3: can't remember for he's a shotgun or not, but it
Speaker 3: really became decision time. It was not late in the
Speaker 3: down at all. And by the way, his time to
Speaker 3: throw was very low. You think of him being a
Speaker 3: big arm run around. It was quick, quick, quick, quick, quick,
Speaker 3: and he still got to his second read hits wigion
Speaker 3: and stride. He did the rest, of course, and we'll
Speaker 3: talk about him a lot, I'm sure too, but it's
Speaker 3: just a good example of Yeah, it's not real complex
Speaker 3: route combinations yet either against not real complex defenses, of course,
Speaker 3: but boom, he's really crisp, and again his time to
Speaker 3: throw being as low as it was and still putting
Speaker 3: up those kind of numbers without nickel and Diamondya was
Speaker 3: says a lot.
Speaker 2: I think those two matt had the kind of the
Speaker 2: composure of what you would expect from Mason Rudolph. You know, yeah,
Speaker 2: you expect Mason Rudolph to be a professional quarterback. He's
Speaker 2: not gonna be perfect out there, but he's a pro.
Speaker 2: He's been in this league. He knows what he's doing
Speaker 2: m and there. And I don't mean this as like
Speaker 2: a knock to Mason. I mean this is a credit
Speaker 2: to the two young guys. It was seamless from Mason
Speaker 2: to those two. Yeah, you had some penalty stuff that
Speaker 2: we need to talk about, and we will at some
Speaker 2: point when we get into some of the things you
Speaker 2: want to see cleaned up from Thursday night. But when
Speaker 2: you break that penalty stuff down, of like the eleven penalties,
Speaker 2: I think six or seven were on special teams.
Speaker 3: I say a lot. We're on special teams and they
Speaker 3: were early.
Speaker 2: And two were on Troy Foultanu early. It's not like
Speaker 2: it was procedural stuff. It's not like they were delayed
Speaker 2: couldn't get illegal because guys were lined up in the
Speaker 2: in the wrong spot. I really like that, like Howard
Speaker 2: and Aller had the same kind of cut of their
Speaker 2: jib in the same kind of operation as the guy
Speaker 2: who's been in this league for a decade as a
Speaker 2: backup and his professional and knows what he's doing. And
Speaker 2: that gets back to your your beginning point, which again
Speaker 2: I think is a really good one of Michael McCarthy
Speaker 2: knows what he's doing for quarterbacks and.
Speaker 3: And I'm sure Aaron Rodgers had some influence on that too.
Speaker 3: I think you see him coaching on that right.
Speaker 2: He certainly did, and you love to see that. And
Speaker 2: I think he even might have had a headset in
Speaker 2: or was involved with some of that stuff at different points.
Speaker 3: But for command, I mean they were in control.
Speaker 2: Good word to use, command control, comfortable professional quarterback play byes.
Speaker 3: You have officially signed. So the press conference must be over.
Speaker 2: Yes, it has, And in fact, I think our buddy
Speaker 2: Brian Becke of this radio network and of course Steelers
Speaker 2: dot Com just sent me some audio of the Keanu
Speaker 2: Benton press conference. So get a lot of different things
Speaker 2: going on today. But I think you have to be
Speaker 2: excited about that quarterback play. Now, I've seen some of
Speaker 2: this already, Matt. I've seen the Will Howard Drew Aller
Speaker 2: civil war starting on social media.
Speaker 3: And you know, you have to love one and hate
Speaker 3: the other.
Speaker 2: That's how it works in modern day sports. Right, one's
Speaker 2: the goat and the other is a bum. And I
Speaker 2: also too, you know, I always tell you this.
Speaker 3: Someone sent me a tweet after the game, like, do
Speaker 3: you know who Aler's picking for his Hall of Fame
Speaker 3: inductee yet?
Speaker 2: To who's he gonna have to give his speech?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: Did he yet? That's funny?
Speaker 2: And I also I always tell you this. I a
Speaker 2: lot of times I have to take the foot off
Speaker 2: the gas when I try and gauge the consensus of
Speaker 2: the public off of social media, because social media is
Speaker 2: not the real world. Twitter and X and Instagram and
Speaker 2: Facebook and TikTok and all that is not the real world.
Speaker 2: But I I understand the hype. I want to see
Speaker 2: it continue to grow. And I think this is it's
Speaker 2: it's a good starting point.
Speaker 3: That especially a tremendous start.
Speaker 2: Tremendous starting. Yeah, it doesn't mean that both of those
Speaker 2: guys are capable and you're ready to get rid of
Speaker 2: Mason Rudolph. It doesn't mean that both of those guys
Speaker 2: can be a franchise type quarterback and all of a
Speaker 2: sudden we can close the book on potentially taking one
Speaker 2: in the first round next year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't need do we need to stop the
Speaker 3: on campus segment quite yet, But what.
Speaker 2: It does matter is it also leaves all those doors
Speaker 2: wide open for opportunity.
Speaker 3: They're more open. I mean every day. Again, I always say,
Speaker 3: in this world, you're you stop swimming like a shark,
Speaker 3: you die, you know, so every day your value either
Speaker 3: goes up down or stay the same or whatever. But
Speaker 3: it's not monotonous. Over the price exactly and clearly one
Speaker 3: game and I don't think we even need the preface
Speaker 3: that first game, the preseason, and we know all those things.
Speaker 3: But you know, I'm not saying put them in Canton yet.
Speaker 3: But I'm even more open to you know what Jerry
Speaker 3: Doulak has been saying. I can understand a reason now
Speaker 3: you'd keep four, you know, I mean a little bit
Speaker 3: better than I did three days ago, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. It doesn't mean I'm voting for that, but
Speaker 3: all these things are fluid, all right.
Speaker 2: But do you think Drew Aller will be first ballot
Speaker 2: or will they make them wait a couple of years,
Speaker 2: or that.
Speaker 3: He'll prove the wait a year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, have you ever seen the movie Finding Nemo?
Speaker 3: Of course, just keep swimming, just keep swimming.
Speaker 2: Just keep swimming. I want to see those two young
Speaker 2: quarterbacks do some more swimming.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they a lot more swimming.
Speaker 2: A couple more practices out here, and then of course
Speaker 2: another preseason opportunity Friday night against the Jets. We got
Speaker 2: to talk about some of these running backs. We've got
Speaker 2: to talk about some of these wide receivers, particularly two
Speaker 2: rookie ones. We've got to talk, unfortunately about some of
Speaker 2: those penalty issues that we saw. Plenty more to get
Speaker 2: into from that Steelers preseason game on Thursday night, of course,
Speaker 2: a twenty eight to nine win over at the Green
Speaker 2: Bay Packers, and will continue to dissect that thing as
Speaker 2: we roll along here in our number two of the show,
Speaker 2: West Sheeler Matt Williamson, It is the Dry Steelers Nation
Speaker 2: Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: Is live coverage Jumped down twenty twenty six Steelers training
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Speaker 1: Number three. We don't go to the office, we build it.
Speaker 2: So obviously Matt and I are starting to plan out
Speaker 2: the route for the Steelers' Super Bowl parade.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, all these guys are the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: After that Thursday night victory against the Packers, our lime
Speaker 2: green line painting buddy, by the way, to give you
Speaker 2: all update is he did pretty well, Matt, far side
Speaker 2: of the field looks pretty.
Speaker 3: Good, looks like a successful mission.
Speaker 2: I think they're bringing them over to the Varsity field
Speaker 2: or now to see if he can continue his good work.
Speaker 2: So we'll continue to keep an eye on all things.
Speaker 3: Do they ever put numbers on that third field? I
Speaker 3: don't think they do. Right.
Speaker 2: I feel like they do it like the start of camp,
Speaker 2: but then they kind of fade quickly.
Speaker 3: Is the only special teams there? They even use it
Speaker 3: for anything. I can't even remember.
Speaker 2: They use it for some special team stuff because there
Speaker 2: is the one field goal post there and.
Speaker 3: It doesn't look like the others by the way that
Speaker 3: bothers me.
Speaker 2: It looks like it looks like I wonder if that's
Speaker 2: because they probably take it down I would imagine after
Speaker 2: I'm sure after camp.
Speaker 3: But it's taller and it's an h instead of you know.
Speaker 2: It is it's the it's the classic instead of uh.
Speaker 3: You can smash into it if you go exactly.
Speaker 2: There's the two there's the two uh, the two legs
Speaker 2: instead of just the one sexually located.
Speaker 3: And it's extra tall.
Speaker 2: Oh, it is extra tall right now. That's definitely got
Speaker 2: to be a training camp thing. I can't imagine they
Speaker 2: keep no.
Speaker 3: I bet that doesn't stay there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Uh, the far field, Matt, I think gets used
Speaker 2: for special team stuff like you mentioned it. Also, you know,
Speaker 2: sometimes you'll see like the Jalen Ramsey's of the world
Speaker 2: over there doing something. Yeah, that's work and things like that,
Speaker 2: but it is, it's man, the field's looking very good condition.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they do for where we're at in training camp,
Speaker 3: Layton camp here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, without a doubt. Matt continuing to react
Speaker 2: to the Steelers twenty eight to nine preseason victory against
Speaker 2: the Packers. And we got to talk a little bit here,
Speaker 2: certainly about those rookie wide receivers Jeremy but norst Off.
Speaker 3: I thought the whole rookie class was shown really well.
Speaker 3: And you didn't even get to see the first pick,
Speaker 3: you know what.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you mentioned that because Noahkowski probably deserves a
Speaker 2: shout ever in there to Everett certain Rubio.
Speaker 3: Rubio, Yeah, yeah, he's a dude.
Speaker 2: He is. He one of the more surprising guys that
Speaker 2: has ever considered.
Speaker 3: I know who he was and confiding out about him
Speaker 3: when he get drafted.
Speaker 2: When the Steelers drafted Rubio, and Matt Williamson goes, who, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's and he's not in the beast our buddy Dane.
Speaker 3: Brugler a NFL dot commyn I have a picture of
Speaker 3: the guy. He's a defensive tackle from Notre Dame. He's
Speaker 3: not from Alcorn State. You know, you'd think you'd have
Speaker 3: at least a picture of the dude.
Speaker 2: Was Gab Rubio from sam Houston State, staying with he
Speaker 2: went the Notre stinking Dame here. I mean, come on,
Speaker 2: but you're right, the whole rookie class deserves a shout out.
Speaker 2: But man, I was really.
Speaker 3: There's no such sleepers anymore. But like that's a sleeper,
Speaker 3: like if not anyone the whole media knows who he
Speaker 3: is and found somebody.
Speaker 2: In the modern era, a guy from Notre Dame that
Speaker 2: nobody knows who he is. That's his nuts, that's nuts.
Speaker 3: That's just they probably have like two first round pick,
Speaker 3: you know, defensive tackles. We don't know.
Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, the next stuff on to it or somebody
Speaker 2: like that. It's gonna, you know, go in the top
Speaker 2: fifty here in the next year or so.
Speaker 3: Like when they drafted Kevin Dotson, I thought he kind
Speaker 3: of was that mold too, Like nobody was talking about him.
Speaker 3: He didn't have a Combine invite. It was a smaller
Speaker 3: school guy in his guard, you know. I mean, you
Speaker 3: can still find some information.
Speaker 2: On dude crazy. But uh, good on Rubio for making
Speaker 2: everybody kind of uh pay attention to notice. Yeah, take
Speaker 2: some notice now, certainly, And we were noticing those rookie
Speaker 2: wide receivers. Matt Absolutely, we saw a lot of jermy
Speaker 2: early on five targets, four receptions, fifty one yards. He
Speaker 2: had a explosive that he kind of created on his own,
Speaker 2: broke a couple of tackles on the sideline there and
Speaker 2: ended up taking what was probably a what a seven
Speaker 2: or eight yard gain and turning it into a twenty
Speaker 2: five yard gain. And then speaking of taking a short
Speaker 2: gain and taking it along, how about Legion Two receptions
Speaker 2: for seventy nine yards, including that explosive seventy four yard.
Speaker 3: Let's start with Weigen. I guess we didn't get to
Speaker 3: see him do a lot in the return game.
Speaker 2: I should have mentioned that. I mean, he had a
Speaker 2: couple opportunities, but no, really green grass situation.
Speaker 3: And that's the nature of the beast with that, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean, so I'm sure we'll get we'll see plenty
Speaker 3: of that going forward. But that made me wonder if
Speaker 3: the day they drafted him, did they have offense in
Speaker 3: mind as well, because we all assumed he was just
Speaker 3: returner only, and I'm like, man fourth round pick for
Speaker 3: a returner owner, he better beat Devin Hester, you know,
Speaker 3: And no, one's going to.
Speaker 2: At least Dante hall Man.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'm like, well, that's not a very good
Speaker 3: draft class. It was a need. It kind of kills
Speaker 3: two birds, Okay, but I don't think he's ever gonna
Speaker 3: play offense. And you see some of it out there,
Speaker 3: you know, out on the field here, and then I think,
Speaker 3: you know, I don't want him to be a dree
Speaker 3: archer gadget only offense guy.
Speaker 2: That everyone knows what's coming with.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but my hunch is just seeing his usage and
Speaker 3: as much as he did play and how they use them,
Speaker 3: they might foresee him being you know, a real wide
Speaker 3: receiver in time. He needs some work, of course, but
Speaker 3: he obviously has the speed and agility and body control
Speaker 3: and by all accounts he's a hard worker and smart
Speaker 3: and typical Iowa guy and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: Maybe they think a year from now he could be
Speaker 3: your third receiver or I mean, so maybe at least
Speaker 3: open the idea that he's not just a returner in.
Speaker 2: Their eyes, which is what we're hoping for.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it'd be great if or he can do if.
Speaker 2: He ends up being a high level returner, outstanding, right,
Speaker 2: But if he can do that and contribute to the
Speaker 2: wide receiver room. Then you really start to live up
Speaker 2: to that fourth round billing.
Speaker 3: Because you know he's gonna be active on game day.
Speaker 3: So heaven forbid Metcalf and Rom and Wilson get hurt
Speaker 3: in the same game he's out there.
Speaker 2: We've seen those type of scenarios before. It happens, right,
Speaker 2: it absolutely happens, and so yeah, that that play listen again,
Speaker 2: it's you have to kind of I don't even know
Speaker 2: if grain assaults the right word, but just context. It
Speaker 2: was not the greatest defense from the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 2: but that's what you're supposed to do. Wigan. To me
Speaker 2: on that play, it was like if you give a
Speaker 2: mouse a cookie, like the Packers gave Weigen a yard
Speaker 2: and he took a mile, you know, And that's what
Speaker 2: from those shifty, speedy, twitchy type guys, when given an
Speaker 2: opportunity like that, that's what you want to see him do.
Speaker 2: And Matt, you know, he ends up getting tackled at
Speaker 2: like the two yard line, but yeah, when he broke
Speaker 2: away from that initial wave, it was almost like, as
Speaker 2: I mentioned, I would have kind of been expecting Drew
Speaker 2: Aller Will Howard to like have some nerves have some
Speaker 2: just those moments where you kind of lose your mind
Speaker 2: for half a second. He kind of stumbled over it.
Speaker 2: It was like he saw, he did, he saw, he
Speaker 2: saw the clear path of the end zone and almost
Speaker 2: kind of tripped over his own feet for a second.
Speaker 2: Was still able though, despite doing that, to take it
Speaker 2: down into the five yard line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and again, I don't think any of us need
Speaker 3: to question his movements, skills, his speed, his breakaway ability,
Speaker 3: vision with the football. All those things have been proven
Speaker 3: in the return game. But if he can develop into
Speaker 3: a project wide receiver too that is not gimmicky and
Speaker 3: can give you real snaps there at some point in
Speaker 3: the next year or two. Great, But at least I'm
Speaker 3: more open to that.
Speaker 2: Now I am too. And then Jeremy Bernard Matt a
Speaker 2: good starting point for him. He looked the part in
Speaker 2: terms of that physicality that you wanted to see with
Speaker 2: shrugging guys off. Yeah, he was lined up in a
Speaker 2: few different ways. Four receptions fifty one yards, including like
Speaker 2: I mentioned that long twenty five yarder. I thought that's
Speaker 2: a great starting point for him as well.
Speaker 3: It's really easy. I mean, every year draft knicks will
Speaker 3: compare someone to Deebo Samuel, and it's not fair in
Speaker 3: terms of just after the catch physicality. And a lot
Speaker 3: of people mentioned that with Bernard, he's not gonna They're
Speaker 3: not gonna hand them the ball, and he's not gonna
Speaker 3: run between the tackles, and he's not two hundred twenty
Speaker 3: pounds and you know, but he's really good after the
Speaker 3: catch and is a physical force after the catch, which
Speaker 3: the nature of these practices, you're not going to see
Speaker 3: that here. You know, he's not going to run over
Speaker 3: you know, right, exactly right, but he's hard to get
Speaker 3: on the ground. He's highly competitive. He's added a little
Speaker 3: bit of weight since his combine two. He looks stronger, bulkier.
Speaker 3: I don't think he's lost anything explosive wise whatsoever. Five
Speaker 3: of Rudolph's eleven targets went to him as the number one.
Speaker 3: I mean, with the two top guys out, they used
Speaker 3: him like a number one receiver. And I think that's
Speaker 3: very telling. And that's not a knock on Roman, but
Speaker 3: I got to think that there's been a lot more
Speaker 3: buzz about Roman Wilson than Bernard. Don't forget about this guy,
Speaker 3: because I think he's the better prospect clearly. I mean,
Speaker 3: if one of them had to get taken away from
Speaker 3: the team, I would definitely take Roman off the team
Speaker 3: before Bernard. I hesitate to say it, but I think
Speaker 3: he might be the biggest bright spot from this whole game.
Speaker 2: Bernard.
Speaker 3: Yeah, use early in the game a lot on purpose,
Speaker 3: did a lot on his own, was always where he's
Speaker 3: supposed to be. I think he's a chance to be
Speaker 3: pretty good.
Speaker 2: I don't hate that map, but it, Yeah, that might
Speaker 2: that kind of player of the game.
Speaker 3: I think we gotta throw everyone's gonna throw aler there.
Speaker 2: And I get proper Tanya into the conversation too, and
Speaker 2: what he was.
Speaker 3: Able to do, okay, because again I've been kind of
Speaker 3: critical of him. There's been four or five I did
Speaker 3: a podcast this the other day saying, I hope I'm
Speaker 3: wrong because there's four or five I've had questions about
Speaker 3: or I wanted to get challenged more. And Tanya was
Speaker 3: a perfect example that I'm like, I don't. I hope
Speaker 3: he just doesn't kind of grandfather didn't do right. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and boy, he looked like I've done this for a
Speaker 3: long time and I haven't lost anything. And it's a
Speaker 3: preseason game. And if you're gonna give me a crease,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna destroy it. Give me the ball when the times,
Speaker 3: you know, when uh it matters most, Drive me the
Speaker 3: football over the middle. Do a little bit after the
Speaker 3: catch moved. Well, I'm not saying I hated him before anything,
Speaker 3: but I have less doubts. I mean, if he's your
Speaker 3: third tight end now, I feel a lot better about
Speaker 3: it than a couple of days ago. Starting to warm
Speaker 3: up to that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 2: You're right, he looked like kind of that that guy
Speaker 2: who still needs to prove it but also is probably
Speaker 2: and they're done it been, they're done that past the
Speaker 2: point of a preseason game. But at his age and
Speaker 2: where he's kind of been the last couple of years,
Speaker 2: you still love to see him doing that.
Speaker 3: I'm sure through his eyes, like he's looking at those
Speaker 3: backup safeties going you're leaning left. I mean, you're it's
Speaker 3: like playing a poker against you know, rookies. You know,
Speaker 3: like you have such a towel, Yeah, you have such
Speaker 3: a towel. And I'm just gonna lean one way and
Speaker 3: get this open area. And the quarterbacks found him over
Speaker 3: and over.
Speaker 2: Our buddy Max Starks has this thing that he does
Speaker 2: where when it's a he calls it the barbecue chicken
Speaker 2: match up. Sometimes it's like this guy better cook that guy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: And he always does this you gotta you got. He
Speaker 2: usually does it with offensive lineman, right, bet yeah, and
Speaker 2: he's like, you know, like Zach Fraser, you better dominate
Speaker 2: this guy. You need to be licking your fingers barb
Speaker 2: barbecue chicken. And I was we were laughing about that
Speaker 2: during one of the breaks during the broadcast where I
Speaker 2: was like, Max, you think Tanian's lining up every plague
Speaker 2: barbecue chicken? Yeah, four receptions for sixty one yards and uh.
Speaker 3: And I think he now is like the older brother,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: Yes, he's I think pretty squarely in the drive's sept
Speaker 2: for that tight end three spot.
Speaker 3: Bell was the other one in the mix, and he
Speaker 3: did a couple of little things too.
Speaker 2: He did, Yeah, he certainly did. I also liked what
Speaker 2: we saw from Riley Nowakowski. Matt, you know, didn't get
Speaker 2: as much use as a lot of these guys, but
Speaker 2: I always think it's important, you know, him and Aler
Speaker 2: they had that opportunity to connect on the touchdown pass.
Speaker 3: Probably that's more on Noakowski, I think so.
Speaker 2: I think Noakowski would tell you, and I'm sure he
Speaker 2: was probably asked about this in the post game and
Speaker 2: he probably did say I just didn't hear it that
Speaker 2: I need to catch that. It wasn't a perfect throw
Speaker 2: from Drew, but it was still within my catch radius.
Speaker 2: Drew would probably tell you I should have placed it better,
Speaker 2: but Riley would tell you I still should have caught it.
Speaker 3: I think he makes it. I think he should make
Speaker 3: that catch eight or nine times out of time.
Speaker 2: But but what I really like is, what was it
Speaker 2: a drive or two drives later, they have an opportunity again,
Speaker 2: they link up. He kind of that you know, you
Speaker 2: make a mistake like that and you could kind of
Speaker 2: hang your head and oh man, that was my opportunity
Speaker 2: I could have scored in a preseason game and all that.
Speaker 2: You get another opportunity, you come good on it. I
Speaker 2: also liked seeing some of the usage of him and
Speaker 2: some of those goal line situations.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I put him in motion before the snap too.
Speaker 3: I mean, they got a plan for him in a
Speaker 3: full back.
Speaker 2: In general, we're still I don't want to say early doors, Matt,
Speaker 2: but a lot can still change between now in final
Speaker 2: cutdown day. But I think Tanya and Noah Kowski they're
Speaker 2: in less something drasamtically changes. They're they're making this team.
Speaker 3: I would think so. I would think so, And I'm
Speaker 3: more comfortab about it now than ever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you on that one, and I your
Speaker 2: your point about the kind of rookies overall is well taken.
Speaker 3: That whole class, shine man.
Speaker 2: They sure did. They sure did.
Speaker 3: And even I've heard a lot of complaints about the
Speaker 3: rookie class. Like, Okay, I like some of these players,
Speaker 3: but no, they we're gonna help him this year. Well
Speaker 3: that kind of is a good problem, you know, Like
Speaker 3: Parcels used to have a theory, every rookie I start
Speaker 3: is a loss. If I start three three rookies, that's
Speaker 3: lost right of the bat, you know, because they're gonna
Speaker 3: make a mistake, they just screw something up and you know, right,
Speaker 3: But like if all those guys keep getting bad, they
Speaker 3: still showed really really well. I mean, the bottom of
Speaker 3: the roster I thought did really really well in this game.
Speaker 2: I'm with you on that too. The one guy who
Speaker 2: would have liked to see a little bit more from
Speaker 2: was Eli hyden Reich nine carries for twenty one yards,
Speaker 2: and you and I have discussed this. I just I
Speaker 2: don't think he's a running back.
Speaker 3: No, I don't want to handle them ball between the tackles.
Speaker 2: And if you do some of that stuff with him occasionally,
Speaker 2: for sure, fine, But I would like to see him
Speaker 2: used more in the past game. But he did get
Speaker 2: some opportunity nine carries for twenty one yards. I just
Speaker 2: you know, I'm with you. I don't I don't know
Speaker 2: about him running the ball between the tackles they were doing.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's a jack of all trades. I hope
Speaker 3: he's not a master of none. Where again, that he
Speaker 3: could be the Connor Hayward where you're happy he's on
Speaker 3: the field if you're the defense, just because he's good
Speaker 3: a lot of things. But where's he really gonna sting me?
Speaker 3: Here's your nickname? You don't listen to. I mean, I
Speaker 3: watched the game, so I listened to the chodcast, So
Speaker 3: I guess I got a kick out of he's a
Speaker 3: Swiss Army knife, right, but they're calling him the Swiss
Speaker 3: Navy knife. Navy that that's pretty good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we saw a lot of middle of the field
Speaker 2: usage for the offense too, Matt. I know that was
Speaker 2: exciting for the for the viewing audience.
Speaker 3: Huge. Now that doesn't mean Aaron should throw in the middle.
Speaker 3: He's been reluctant, and he's been reluctant going back to
Speaker 3: those Jets days. This offense clearly incorporates much more over
Speaker 3: the field throwing, and that is extremely encouraging to me,
Speaker 3: and it's been something that's been lacking for a long time.
Speaker 3: It's also because the quarterbacks they brought in here aren't big.
Speaker 3: I'm throwing over the middle of field, and frankly, smartly
Speaker 3: Tomlin doesn't want Duck to throw over the middle of
Speaker 3: the field and some of those type of dudes. So
Speaker 3: I loved it. It's clearly in the playbook. But it's
Speaker 3: been in the playbook more than we've seen in the
Speaker 3: past too. I think you're crazy not to embrace it
Speaker 3: and go deeper into that realm than you did these
Speaker 3: previous years or Aaron's first year here. But I guess
Speaker 3: see a couple games the regular season with him throwing,
Speaker 3: you know, in breaking routes and things like that, that
Speaker 3: totally buy in because you can call all you want,
Speaker 3: but especially as quarterbacks have had such success. They're gonna
Speaker 3: play it their way.
Speaker 2: They absolutely are. Yeah, especially a four time MVP, future
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer. Yeah, Matt, I do want to get
Speaker 2: to some concerns in our kind of final segment here
Speaker 2: of the four o'clock hour. But first, two more names
Speaker 2: that I think deserve a shout out. Sante Samuel.
Speaker 3: You know, we've been great every step of the way.
Speaker 2: And one of those things with I don't want to
Speaker 2: say unproven guys because the Sante Samuel's been in the league.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's had his moment, He's.
Speaker 2: Had his moments, certainly, but when there's guys that are
Speaker 2: kind of the darling of training camp, you want to
Speaker 2: see him translate it to in stadium right in between.
Speaker 2: As much happens, it does not always happen, and it
Speaker 2: happened with a Sante Samuel on Thursday night.
Speaker 3: I love that he seems to get hands on the
Speaker 3: football every time you watch them.
Speaker 2: You see we've seen that every day out here, and
Speaker 2: you see it, you see it in the game on Thursday.
Speaker 2: I love it when the training camp reports, uh translate
Speaker 2: to in stadium and those opportunities between the white lines
Speaker 2: and the man. Why a black not a ton of usage.
Speaker 2: But he was just he was, I thought, blowing people
Speaker 2: up and UH and was real kind of disruptive there
Speaker 2: in the middle of UH, in the middle of the defense.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see more of the big man
Speaker 2: doing that.
Speaker 3: I kind of mentioned when we were talking about Porter.
Speaker 3: Having Samuel as a reserve is a wonderful situation. And
Speaker 3: Dean does have a checkered history in terms of staying
Speaker 3: on the field, and Porter currently isn't under a long
Speaker 3: term contract all those things. I wonder if he's making
Speaker 3: the staff go. When we're in nickel, do I have
Speaker 3: to get Samuel out there somehow, or when we're in
Speaker 3: dime or should we play more dime or you know
Speaker 3: what I mean? Like, is he one of your best eleven?
Speaker 3: Is my point? There's he one of your best twelve
Speaker 3: or thirteen maybe. I mean he's playing to that level.
Speaker 3: He's playing like an NFL starting quarterback, cornerback. I agree
Speaker 3: on Black. Looks like he's getting off the ball quicker
Speaker 3: than last year. He still plays high, which you could
Speaker 3: get away with when you're that big and strong, especially
Speaker 3: against backups and whatnot. But he's a force out there.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's definitely I forget to us. I'm talking
Speaker 3: with Chris about it, like him and Harmon, and I
Speaker 3: think Rubio fits this mold now too. They play big.
Speaker 3: I mean they have big, heavy hands, you know, the hammers,
Speaker 3: and they they stunn you. They may or may not
Speaker 3: run the best. They may not be Warren Sap out
Speaker 3: there with swim moves and you know, rip moves and
Speaker 3: counters and all those things, but you feel their presence.
Speaker 3: They eat up a lot of space and they play big,
Speaker 3: and they have long arms, and they're huge human beings,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: They sure are. And looking forward to seeing more of that.
Speaker 2: All right, when we return to close down the four
Speaker 2: o'clock hour, we got to talk about cleaning up some
Speaker 2: of these penalties, and we also have to talk about
Speaker 2: where in the world is Carmen san Diego. I mean,
Speaker 2: where in the world was Caleb Johnson on Thursday night
Speaker 2: and what's going on with that running back room West Shuler,
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson. We are live at training camp, Saint Vincent College.
Speaker 2: It is the Drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers
Speaker 2: Audio Network.
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Speaker 2: Rolling along here on campus at Saint Vincent College, reacting
Speaker 2: to all of the busy news of the day, and
Speaker 2: of course, the Steelers' first preseason game twenty eight to
Speaker 2: nine over the Green Bay Packers victorious Thursday night at
Speaker 2: home at Akershuer Stadium. In Mike McCarthy's debut, I always
Speaker 2: kind of wonder how that works though, right, Matt, because
Speaker 2: it was his debut. But then we're gonna say that
Speaker 2: again at the home opener against the Power. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: is always funny to me how that works, like where
Speaker 2: it's Yeah, it's like his debut, it's his first game
Speaker 2: back home, it's against his old team. But then we'll
Speaker 2: kind of rehash all that whenever the Atlanta Falcons come
Speaker 2: to town to start the regular season. But certainly a
Speaker 2: good start. Matt and I outlined some of the individuals
Speaker 2: that we were impressed by, also obviously pointing out the
Speaker 2: fact that you make it out of there without any
Speaker 2: major injuries, which is always a huge positive. Matt, though
Speaker 2: there's always some stuff that you want to clean up. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and didn't love all the penalties that we saw early on.
Speaker 2: I know a few of them were on special teams.
Speaker 2: I also understand that is part of the process of
Speaker 2: knocking off that rust. You're going to have penalties, You're
Speaker 2: going to have stuff like that. Some of it I
Speaker 2: can excuse, though some of it I didn't love to see.
Speaker 2: I think particularly those two holding calls that we saw
Speaker 2: early on on Troy Faltano.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there were two pretty glaring negatives to me in
Speaker 3: this game. We can with varied amount of degree of
Speaker 3: concern penalties, and to be fair, a lot of them
Speaker 3: were early in the game. They were green Bay all
Speaker 3: of a sudden took a ton of penalties. Late in
Speaker 3: the game, they only had one penalty in the.
Speaker 2: First I think like eight of the eleven were in
Speaker 2: the first half or something like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I also think the O line as a
Speaker 3: whole did not have a good day, including Falton who
Speaker 3: including the tackles overall.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought Dylan Cook struggled.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Broderick played a ton and was okay. You know,
Speaker 3: I mean, there weren't a lot of tackles available with
Speaker 3: Falton who only playing a small amount and on Shore
Speaker 3: not playing at all. But I didn't think there were
Speaker 3: a lot of Now, there were some consistent pressure on quarterbacks,
Speaker 3: there were some penalties, there were some miscommunication things, and
Speaker 3: I didn't see a ton of great running lanes either.
Speaker 3: So I did not think this was a good offensive
Speaker 3: line game. And clearly it was a penalty problematic game.
Speaker 3: A couple people have tweeted me this, and I did
Speaker 3: some homework on it before, you know, I told you
Speaker 3: I started building Matt's stats months ago.
Speaker 2: I think I know where you're going with this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And McCarthy led teams, his Cowboy teams are pretty
Speaker 3: penalty are pretty highly penalized, and twenty twenty four, just
Speaker 3: in terms of accepted penalties that they committed Cowboys were
Speaker 3: the fourth most year before, second most year before that,
Speaker 3: eighth most year before that, most accepted penalties in the
Speaker 3: whole league. In twenty twenty one, twenty twenty they were
Speaker 3: the eleventh most.
Speaker 2: So real quick, So basically his last four years as
Speaker 2: a head coach, his team was top ten in penalties
Speaker 2: in the NFL in a bad way, in a bad way. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And then the year before the last year before that,
Speaker 2: they were eleventh. So just outside of.
Speaker 3: The top ten, and one of them they were most
Speaker 3: and one of them are second most. Now that's likely
Speaker 3: a McCarthy thing. Penalties are a hard thing to judge
Speaker 3: year to year. I mean, even if you look at Tomlin, Belichick, McCarthy,
Speaker 3: guys that you know coached for twenty some years, Shula
Speaker 3: is like one of the only ones. It's like consistently
Speaker 3: real far one way or the other. Like the Dolphins
Speaker 3: were always like the lowest penalized team in back of
Speaker 3: then no mistakes. Now, maybe Dallas's organization just isn't as
Speaker 3: buttoned up and the type of players they get or
Speaker 3: Lucy Goose.
Speaker 2: His time with the Packers was much better. Our buddy
Speaker 2: Ian pointed out, I didn't notice took. His numbers with
Speaker 2: the Packers were much better than they were in Dallas.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, maybe Jerry and company will just take
Speaker 3: guys that commit more penalties and they don't have as
Speaker 3: big a problem with it and they draft that dude,
Speaker 3: or maybe their guys aren't as smarter as disciplined or
Speaker 3: blah blah blah. I mean, because it was a stint
Speaker 3: with the Cowboys, but he's coached one game with the
Speaker 3: Steelers and penalties were a problem, and penalties were a
Speaker 3: problem with you as Cowboys, So let's not ignore it,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: I think there's a balance there that we're looking to find. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and again, I think in your first preseason game there
Speaker 2: is a level of penalization to just be expected.
Speaker 3: I was just said too. I mean, preseason, you could
Speaker 3: throw a lot of flags.
Speaker 2: You know, you can throw a lot of flags. The
Speaker 2: referees I think at times do over flag in preseason
Speaker 2: just to make sure these guys are learning and talking
Speaker 2: about it. It feels like a lot of years we
Speaker 2: freak out like, oh my goodness, they're throwing every time
Speaker 2: someone touches the quarterback. They're throwing a flag every time
Speaker 2: someone touches the wide receiver, they're throwing a flag and
Speaker 2: then it gets dialed down a little bit in the
Speaker 2: regular season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and there's always the points of emphasis too, like
Speaker 3: we're gonna throw a ton of flags.
Speaker 2: On this and that. Yeah, And I think part of
Speaker 2: that might have been, you know, we saw like a
Speaker 2: couple like late hit like personal foul if you will.
Speaker 3: I also had a theory watching the first quarter, and
Speaker 3: Scronic was one of them. I'm like, are these Steelers
Speaker 3: that were carried over from last year just champion at
Speaker 3: the bit to hit somebody? Because because usually by this
Speaker 3: time they've done a lot of hitting and they finally
Speaker 3: they're allowed to blast somebody. Yeah, that's like I just
Speaker 3: got to hit somebody. If I get a penalty in
Speaker 3: the preseason, I don't care. I gotta get out of
Speaker 3: my system.
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of that generally in the
Speaker 2: first preseason game, but especially when you're.
Speaker 3: Right when you're used to bagging right right right.
Speaker 2: Right, camp Matt. I guess the last piece of this
Speaker 2: that we need and we'll continue to talk about this.
Speaker 3: Game plenty tons right tomorrow too, but.
Speaker 2: I think the last kind of big headline piece from
Speaker 2: this game that we have to discuss is has the
Speaker 2: bell told for Caleb Johnson just two carries for three yards.
Speaker 3: The only way I can imagine it doesn't is if
Speaker 3: they have a trade in place like today that they
Speaker 3: just wanted to keep him fresh or make sure he
Speaker 3: didn't get her. I think Lou Nichols is kind of impressive.
Speaker 3: I think johnson usage, and going back to everything we've
Speaker 3: seen really since he's drafted, implies that his seat is
Speaker 3: red hot. I mean red hot because he doesn't offer
Speaker 3: anything on special teams. I went and looked Lou Nickel,
Speaker 3: I mean Lou Nichols. I don't know if he's good
Speaker 3: or bad on him, but he was near the top
Speaker 3: of the team in terms of special team snaps played.
Speaker 3: He played ten, where ten or eleven was like the
Speaker 3: most anybody played. I don't know if he's good or
Speaker 3: bad at it, but it makes me think that they
Speaker 3: have Nichols ahead of Johnson, let alone Homer ahead of Johnson.
Speaker 2: Who I mean, when Homer started the game, I was
Speaker 2: kind of like, oh, I.
Speaker 3: Was glad they didn't play Warren er Dowdell same. I
Speaker 3: thought that was really fun.
Speaker 2: If you would have said to me, Warren Daddle aren't
Speaker 2: gonna play who gets the first carry Caleb Johnson. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Uh, I even joked, I mean, I think last week
Speaker 3: on this show that I might put a chip down
Speaker 3: the Caleb Johnson leads the entire NFL in preseason rushing yards,
Speaker 3: that they might just run him like crazy, Yeah, show
Speaker 3: us that you're worth it. But maybe they're like, we
Speaker 3: already know that he's not for us, and I'm not
Speaker 3: wasting the time on that. I want to see what
Speaker 3: Nichols and Homer can do. Homer had one bad past
Speaker 3: block problem too, which isn't usually his thing, but I
Speaker 3: thought that was noteworthy.
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson had as many carries as Drew.
Speaker 3: Aller, zero first half snaps, and I think he had
Speaker 3: five snaps for the whole game.
Speaker 2: Less than Travis Homer, less than Eli hiden Reich, of course,
Speaker 2: less than Lou Nichols. And hey, maybe it is just
Speaker 2: been a foregone conclusion with his coaching staff as possible.
Speaker 2: You know, he's a square peg running back and we're
Speaker 2: a round whole running system. You know, those top things
Speaker 2: just happened.
Speaker 3: He was definitely drafted for last year's scheme.
Speaker 2: And it could have just been as simple as that
Speaker 2: that they don't think he fits what they're trying to do,
Speaker 2: and this has kind of always been the outcome. But
Speaker 2: I was surprised. I thought he would have had a
Speaker 2: much bigger chunk of the pie in preseason, particularly in
Speaker 2: that first preseason.
Speaker 3: As a junk at all, he got like no pie.
Speaker 2: He got like a couple of little of the crumbs
Speaker 2: left afterwards. That's about it. They couldn't even give him
Speaker 2: any breadsticks or garlic knots either. No, no, he got nothing,
Speaker 2: And so that to me was surprising. Hey, it could
Speaker 2: always change you on Friday night.
Speaker 3: I think it's talents to the Jets.
Speaker 2: I think it's it's very telling, as you say a
Speaker 2: lot of times, Matt, these coaches, these gms, these owners,
Speaker 2: they don't have to come out and tell you exactly
Speaker 2: how they think. You could just read your tea leaves.
Speaker 2: You could just follow the cookie crumbs.
Speaker 3: And the thing we always told you guys at Pitt
Speaker 3: and the all coaches tell you this too is don't
Speaker 3: take it personally when I coach you hard, take it personally,
Speaker 3: and worry when no one coaches you at Haul, I
Speaker 3: got no time for you because I've already written you
Speaker 3: off very.
Speaker 2: Well stated, and it's it's not a foregone conclusion yet,
Speaker 2: but it seems like that might be the case with
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's really swimming upstream at this point.
Speaker 3: Could you get a six round pick out of him?
Speaker 3: Someone had to adore him a year ago if he did.
Speaker 2: And they're probably also looking at it right now to
Speaker 2: cut that guy. Yeah, for free, two hours in the books,
Speaker 2: another hour ago. You know what that means. To start
Speaker 2: the five o'clock hour. We will hit the tweets heavy
Speaker 2: here when we return. You've got questions, comments, concerns, reactions.
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